PlayStation 3 breaks sales record with Europe launch

How is the PS3 faring in Europe? Much better than it did in the U.S., apparently, despite that Sony did not target Europe as “critical” for PS3 sales. Over the course of the first few days, the PS3 has moved around 600,000 units, making it more than a record for the console that to date has seen dismal sales elsewhere. This likely has a lot to do with manufacturing picking up. Interestingly enough, the console sold well despite the premium placed on it in Europe:

Considering the exceptionally high price on the PAL version of the PlayStation 3 and its limited backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 games, selling 600 thousand of such consoles is a spectacular achievement, as Sony succeeded in selling more consoles than its rivals Nintendo and Microsoft managed to during the launch weekends.
Will they keep up the momentum? They're certainly hoping so, as those 600,000 units represent a substantial chunk of the entire PS3 market despite it being available for quite some time now. In total, Sony is estimating around €400 million in sales, which includes games and accessories. Perhaps Europe will be what lets Sony turn it around.